GPS issues / errors (1 Viewer)

[MCtree]

Question for you guy and gals; how long does your GPS take to lock on to satellites in the morning when you start out?

My GPS takes a good 4 minutes of driving through Houston streets (some of which are heavily wooded) before it finds a signal.
And then is pretty intermittent as I drive through the streets. I can see the “GPS” blinking grey and black and often it has my location as far as a mile or two off from where I am.

@Fisher23 on that other thread you said yours is very quick to and then doesn’t lose contact.
After you said that, I made an appointment with my dealer to get it looked at.

But then yesterday, I took my LC on a highway - something I had not done in several weeks - and it finally did latch on to some satellites and had a very solid/persistent signal. Even when I was off of the freeway and driving through tree-lined neighborhoods, it never lost signal.

So now I’m not sure what to think. I cancelled my appointment with the Toyota service center because I didn’t want them tearing into my dash unnecessarily.

So now I’m left wondering if my GPS is giving up the ghost or if it’s acting as it’s supposed to do. Maybe the GPS has always been this way but now that I’m paying close attention, I’m catching the errors?

Ps. I started this train of thought on the thread on the link below, but now wonder if my issue is different from the OP’s so I’m starting a different thread. (My apologies if this is “spamming.”)

GPS looses accuracy on back roads / highways

On my 21 LX we are on a road trip and on certain back roads / highways it loses accuracy while driving. Example: the California PCH Hwy 1 from Fort Bragg to Legget passes through a thick forest over hang. During this route the GPS doesn’t track the car as always being on the road and had us...

forum.ih8mud.com

Pps. I’m in a 2021 LC.

@gaijin (looping you in since you were active on that thread recently)

 

[Fisher23]

When I took it to the dealer to look at they couldn't find anything wrong with it and there was no charge since they couldn't find the problem. Their only suggestion was to update the map, but that did not fix the issue that occurs occasionally.

My solution recently is to take my Garmin or my Getac when going where I really need a good map and location.

 

[MCtree]

My solution recently is to take my Garmin or my Getac when going where I really need a good map and location.

Yeah. Agreed. I use my phone most of the time for directions. And I bring a garmin on any road trip.
But the large Nav screen is great for quick references and high-level views. It’s a useful tool that I would like to be able to trust.

(Which, maybe, I can if it understand it’s limitations.)

 

[Tex68w]

Mine doesn't have GPS issues but it hasn't pulled the HD Weather in a while.

 

[gaijin]

Yeah. Agreed. I use my phone most of the time for directions. And I bring a garmin on any road trip.
But the large Nav screen is great for quick references and high-level views. It’s a useful tool that I would like to be able to trust.

(Which, maybe, I can if it understand it’s limitations.)

Just a thought:

GPS receivers rely on satellite ephemeris and almanac data (info about individual satellite location and status) to quickly acquire a solid signal. These data change frequently, so are downloaded to the receiver periodically during normal GPS usage. The data also expire after a while depending on how much was downloaded.

These data are transmitted by the GPS satellites in packets which take 12.5 minutes to transmit. For a receiver to accept any packet of data, it must continually receive the packet from beginning to end with no interruptions. Bearing this in mind, it is usually best practice to keep a GPS receiver active for at least 25 minutes to assure that a full data packet is received.

It's possible that if you have not had your GPS receiver continually active receiving a strong signal for 25 minutes or more recently, then your ephemeris and almanac data may be expired resulting in a long time before first signal lock.

This is not as critical with 'phone GPS reception because a cell phone uses AGPS (Augmented GPS) which also uses data from cell towers to help acquire a strong GPS signal. When out of cell range for extended periods of time (days) then the same phenomenon can be observed.

So... Think any of this might apply to your use case? Has your NAV been actively receiving for periods longer than 25 minutes at a time recently?

HTH

 

[MCtree]

So... Think any of this might apply to your use case? Has your NAV been actively receiving for periods longer than 25 minutes at a time recently?

HTH

Oh! Wow!
I had no idea. All you say is very helpful to know.
I doubt my vehicle has been on for 25 minutes straight in several weeks, much less been actively receiving packets for that long.

I’ll schedule a longer drive where I have good reception and see if that cures me (until the data expires.) Getting stuck in freeway traffic for 25 min here in Houston should be easy to accomplish.

Too bad the GPS can’t connect to my home Wi-Fi to renew the data.

Thanks for the input, gaijin!

 

[gaijin]

Oh! Wow!
I had no idea. All you say is very helpful to know.
I doubt my vehicle has been on for 25 minutes straight in several weeks, much less been actively receiving packets for that long.

I’ll schedule a longer drive where I have good reception and see if that cures me (until the data expires.) Getting stuck in freeway traffic for 25 min here in Houston should be easy to accomplish.

Too bad the GPS can’t connect to my home Wi-Fi to renew the data.

Thanks for the input, gaijin!

Keep us posted!

 

[Fisher23]

Just a thought:

GPS receivers rely on satellite ephemeris and almanac data (info about individual satellite location and status) to quickly acquire a solid signal. These data change frequently, so are downloaded to the receiver periodically during normal GPS usage. The data also expire after a while depending on how much was downloaded.

These data are transmitted by the GPS satellites in packets which take 12.5 minutes to transmit. For a receiver to accept any packet of data, it must continually receive the packet from beginning to end with no interruptions. Bearing this in mind, it is usually best practice to keep a GPS receiver active for at least 25 minutes to assure that a full data packet is received.

It's possible that if you have not had your GPS receiver continually active receiving a strong signal for 25 minutes or more recently, then your ephemeris and almanac data may be expired resulting in a long time before first signal lock.

This is not as critical with 'phone GPS reception because a cell phone uses AGPS (Augmented GPS) which also uses data from cell towers to help acquire a strong GPS signal. When out of cell range for extended periods of time (days) then the same phenomenon can be observed.

So... Think any of this might apply to your use case? Has your NAV been actively receiving for periods longer than 25 minutes at a time recently?

HTH

ALL my other vehicles keep an accurate GPS location except the LC200.

 

[gaijin]

ALL my other vehicles keep an accurate GPS location except the LC200.

So do mine:

Including my LC200...so, what's your point?

 

[Fisher23]

The point I thought it was obvious.

The Nav and GPS system on the LC200 is very low quality compared with the other systems in other vehicles on the market.
One would think that with a quality vehicle you would get t quality Nav system, but that is not the case.

To make it worst, I have not seen a good replacement.

 

[MCtree]

So I just sat in a large, open parking lot with the vehicle running for 35min. I didn’t stare at the GPS sign on the map for the full 35 min, but I think it was a solid black the entire time.

We will see if downloading the newest data will allow the GPS to function better.
I’ll let you guys know.

Though, I will say that on my drive back home, it did blink grey a couple of times when driving under a tree. Hopefully that does not bode ill.

Ps. @gaijin : good looking bike. Are those 35’s?

Pps @Fisher23 : yup, our LC200’s are pretty retro. But, while it’s annoying, I can’t complain overmuch. I kind of knew that when I bought it.
Though I will complain if I have a faulty GPS. The reason I bought this retro vehicle was because of its renown reliability.

 

[MCtree]

So… 35 min of uninterrupted GPS connection and theoretically new data downloaded did not rectify anything for me.

I just drove 15 minutes through my neighborhood and the GPS never found a signal.
By the end of the drive, the map showed me a good half mile off from my actual position.

Sucks.
Guess I need to make an appointment with the dealer and just hope they don’t break anything else while they attempt to fix it.

And since the dealership has a giant parking lot, the GPS will work there and they will tell me nothing is wrong with it.
But we will see…..

 

[Fisher23]

The ONLY time I've had a GPS need more than a few minutes to pick up a good signal and location was when the GPS was turned off in America and turned back on in Africa.

I'm not sure where the GPS antenna is on these units, but yours sounds like it could have an antenna issue.

 

[CharlieS]

The reason I bought this retro vehicle was because of its renown reliability.

Renowned reliability has nothing to do with ancillary systems like infotainment and sat nav. #Firstworldproblems

 

[GordJ]

I have literally driven off the end of the Denso map and I have never seen the gps take more than 30 secs to acquire a signal. BC has lots of hills and trees and I have not had the issues that you have described. Even after leaving the Denso map it displayed the lat and long correctly and acquired signal normally.

 

[MCtree]

I have literally driven off the end of the Denso map and I have never seen the gps take more than 30 secs to acquire a signal. BC has lots of hills and trees and I have not had the issues that you have described. Even after leaving the Denso map it displayed the lat and long correctly and acquired signal normally.

Cool. Thanks for the input. My neighbor, who also drives a 200 (and presumably drives down the same tree-lined streets as I do) says his GPS does not blink in and out like mine.

I must have a faulty GPS.

 

[RET2]

Cool. Thanks for the input. My neighbor, who also drives a 200 (and presumably drives down the same tree-lined streets as I do) says his GPS does not blink in and out like mine.

I must have a faulty GPS.

Could be as simple as a faulty antenna or connection. Is it worth tearing the dash apart, in my case no when other options are available.

 

[MCtree]

So I took my LC200 in to the Toyota Service center two days ago for them to fix the GPS. Spent 4 hours there.
Eventually they told me it was the firmware. It needed updating/calibration - they said.
I was dubious but accepted.

The GPS signal acquisition actually seemed to be better for the rest of the day (though I didn’t drive it much).

Today the GPS is back to taking 4 min to find a signal and blinking off when I drive under trees.

So I’m back at Toyota now.
I got to talk to the technician this time. I’m not sure he did any more than do the location GPS reset and the GPS tire calibration on Tuesday.

But he and I just drove around and I was able to show him how slow/wrong the GPS is.
He said he now needed to escalate within Toyota.

Wonderful!

 

[MCtree]

So the dealer says that Toyota says mine is the 5th Land Cruiser with this problem that they have heard about.

They don’t have a fix for it but are working on it.
In the “meantime”, I just need to live with a faulty GPS.

This is insane!
I can’t get an answer on why they won’t just replace the GPS unit.

They gave me a number at Toyota for me to call. Which I will do tomorrow.
But I fear if it’s only 5 vehicles, it’s not high on their priority list.

 

[RET2]

So the dealer says that Toyota says mine is the 5th Land Cruiser with this problem that they have heard about.

They don’t have a fix for it but are working on it.
In the “meantime”, I just need to live with a faulty GPS.

This is insane!
I can’t get an answer on why they won’t just replace the GPS unit.

They gave me a number at Toyota for me to call. Which I will do tomorrow.
But I fear if it’s only 5 vehicles, it’s not high on their priority list.

But that's 5 at one dealer so may not be as bleak as you think. Posting on forums may attract more with simlar issues.